Gum-melting machine.



K. E. PEILER.

GUM MELTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- s. 1915.

1,262,246, Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Inventor: KczrZ 51 3 576?" K. E. PEILER.

GUM MELTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 8, I916.

1,262,246, Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- [22 26/2502".- [@255 Peale) iinrran STATES PATENTorrron.

KABL'E. PEILER, or nnncrronnooivivnorionr, ASSIGNOR OF SIXNINTI-ISTOBEECH NUT PACKING COMPANY, OF CANAJOHAB-IE, NEW YORK, ACORPORATION OF YORK, AND TWO-NINTHS' TO WILLIAM A. LORENZ AND PEILER,BOTH,OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

ONE-NINTH TO KARL E.

' .GUM-MELTING macrrnin.

To all whom it may concern-.- 1

Be it known that I, KARL E. PEILER, a citizen-of the United States,-residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement 'in'Gum MeltingMa'- chinestof which the following is'a specificationf This inventionrelates to the class ofmachines which are provided for rendering fluidsolidified gums; l The object, of the invention is toproduce aneffioientlniachine'of this class which will transform hard pieces of gumthat contain solid foreign substances into a viscous mass and deliver itin condition for further ma-' nipiilation without' deleteriouslyaffecting the quality of thelgum. i

The conception is particularly valuable when used in" connection withthe preparation ofbhiclefor the man'ufacture'of chewing gum.commercialraw chicle comes'in a lumpy or granular condition-mixed withmoreor lessbark (and other foreigniisub stances, and is usuallyi'1'nelted'inorder' to free "and permit the removal of theobjectionablefmatter. Chicle,1however', cannot be reduced to a perfectfluid without injuring the desirable qualities of the gum. Machineswhich embody this invention, therefore, have'm'eans for melting the gumand reducing it to a semi-fluid state without liquefying it, and at {thesame time grinding'it'to hasten the reduction of the guynl anddisintegration of"; the bark and other foreign" substances, these meansbeing arranged so that the 'product will'be continuouslydelivered :as aviscous mass of uniform texture and fluidity;

Figure 1 "o'ffthe' accompanying. drawings shows 'a plani i'of a'simple'form of machine which embodies this invention; Fig. 2 shows avertical section of the same' Fig. 3' shows a plan of a modified form ofmachine. -:Fig.

' 4 shows a vertical section of the modified tothe 'walls of thehopPe'rwhichPrQVidfiS I. Speciflcationof Letters Patent. i .PatentedApr.9, 1918. Application filed lseptember 8,1916. s ria no. i19,032. i

complementary grinding surface, which movable heated surfaceby reasonof--fric-v tion andthe heat radiated therefrom quickly softens the gumwith which it comes in contactjand' carries it together with the foreignsubstances past i the disintegrating; means with which "the heatedmovable bottom of the hopper cooperates to disintegrate the solidmatter.I the first style of maehine illustrated, the hopper l is supported by astandard'2. In thisca'se the bottom of the hopper is formed by a hollowcylinder 3 which has cutting groovest'tpreferably arranged oblique tothe axis) in itsi'peripheral surface. The journals of'thecylinderaremounted in bearings 'in brackets 5 and they are hollow so-that steam may be admitted. from the-pipe G' to the interiorof'thecylinder for heating it;f Meansysuch "as the'gear 7 is fixed to thecylinder shaft iso'that the cylinder may be rotated :fi'om any suitabledriving mechan1sm.. a I l 1 1 Adjustably attached by bolts 8 to one'sideofithefhopper i'szan angle plate 9; The lower section 10:0fthis plate isdesirably hollow so that steammay' be admitted for heating it throughthe pipe 11, andthe underside of this section is provided with cuttinggrooves 12. This plate is adjusted so that the opening froincthehopper'between the; cylinder and ithebottom" ofthe plate will bejustsuflicient to permit the passage of the required amount of matter as thecylinder rotatesand so that in coiiperation with th'e'surface of thecylinder it'willgrind up such solid matter'as attempts .to pass out withthe melted gurrr between the cylinder and the grinding gageplate---scrapingplate 13 isarranged with its edge adjacent to the surfaceOfthG cylinder below the gage plate for removing the vis- 0011831115153from the cylinder and directlng it-into' the receiving receptacle 14.This scraper isfshown as mounted 0n-- arms I 1.5 that" extend out fromthe; cylinder supportingbrackets. 77 'jjIn the form-of machineillustrated "in Figs. 3 and- 4 thehopper l6:has-a flange. .17 extendingaround its lower- 'edge, This flange is shown as hollow so thatit mayreceive steam from the pipe 18 and-on its under face it is provided withradiating cutting grooves 19. The "hopper is illustrated as beingadjustably fastened in a Way on the front face of the standard 20 bymeans of the screw 21 so that the hopper "may be raised and lowered asdesired. The bottom of this hopper is closed by a hollow'dislrorcylinder 22. This cylinder is supportedso that it will rotate in ahorizontal plane, its hub 23 being held in a vertical bearing inthe-casing 24 and being'provided with a pinion 25 thatis engaged by adriving gear 26.. The cylinder and its hub are hollow so that stealnmaybe admitted from the. pipe 27, and *the top surface of I the cylinder isprovidedwitlrcutting grooves 28.

' "Thecasingi 24L is made inthe fonmof a receptacle"surrounding thelower end of-the hopper and the cylinder-so as :to receive the mass-thatis meltedby the abrasion of the 1 hot top face of the rotating cylinderand passes between the V hopper. "This diskin its upper surface hascutting grooves 33 that coiiperate with grooves 3& in "the-underside of,the hollow,

flange 85 that projects from around the edge of the -hopper,"-forgrinding the solid anatter. -In this case'the 'disk is shown as :heatedby gas-from thepipe 36. A scraper 37 is arranged over the top of thedisk to -remove and conduct off to one side the viscous massthatisbroughtaround by the rotation 'of the disk. 1 V V "VVithsuchmechanisms-as described the gum issoftened very quickly bytherotatingheated surface at the bottomofxthe hopperand is rapidly removedwithoutheating'it su'tticiently'hot-to afiect its quality, and the bark andother impurities are groundup and left in 'sueh-con'ditionthat 3 Vtheycan subsequentlybe'easily removed;

Theinvention claimed is: p v 1 :1. A gummelting machine having ahopperfor receiving the gum, a movable plate having a -cuttimgr surfaceforming the bot- 7 tom of the hopper,,mea'ns for moving said surfaceunder thebottorn-of the hopper, meansffor heating said movable surface,and meanshaving a cutting surface c'odperf ating with the cuttingsurface of the movable member for disintegrating the solid matterbrought'out' with the molten gum.

2. A melting machine having .a'hop' per for receiving the gum, a movablememface, and -a-relatively fixedvmember having her having a cuttingsurface forming the bottom 3 of r i the hopper; means for moving "saidsurface under the bottom of-th'ehopper, meansifor heating said movablesura putting surface that cooperates withithe cutting-surface of themovable member for disintegrating solid matter brought outwiththe'molten gum. T r

3. A gum melting machine having a hopper for receiving the gum, amovable member having a cutting surface forming the bottom of thehopper, means for moving said surface under the bottom of the:hopper,-'means -for heating said; movable surface, and adjustable meanshaving acutting surface coiiperating with the cutting surfaceofthemovable member for -disintegrat-. ing'the solid matter brought outwiththe moltenw gum. I p A. i A gum melting machine having a hopper forreceiving the gurma cylinder having cutting grooves forming the bottom'of thehopper, means' for rotating the-cylinder under the bottom of thehopper, means for heating the-cylinder, and means having cutting;grooves cooperating with the 'cutting groovesof the cylinder fordisintegrating the solid matter brought out with the moltengum. j v

5. A: gum-melting machine having a hopper. for receiving the gum,-ahollow cylinder having: cuttinggrooves forming "the bottom of thehopper, means for rotating the'cylinderunderthebottom of the hopper,means for-admitting heating fluid to the interior of the cylinder, andmeansr' having cutting grooves. cooperating with the cutting grooves of.the cylinder 'for disintegrating the solid matterbrought-out with themolten gum.

6;. Azgnm melting machine having a'hoppen for receiving thegum, a hollowcylinder having cutting grooves forming the bottom of the'hoppen meansfor rotating the cylinder under the bottom of the hopper, means for:admitting:heatingfiuid to the interior of-wthe cylinder, 1 means havingcutting groovescoio'perating with the grooves of the cylin'd er fordisintegrating; the solid vmatter broughtrout with themoltenigum, andmeans for heating said disintegrating means. s

-7. gum melting machine having a -hopperfor receivin the um, 'adisintegrating inemberiat-tache to te hopper,-a member having-1a cuttingsurface movable adjacent to the open end ,of the hopperland saiddisintegrating member, meansfor moving said movable .member, and means{for heating said movable member: i 1 SKA gum melting machine havingahop per for receiving the gum, a disintegrating member. attachedrto thehopper; meansfor heating "said :clisintegrating member, a memher havinga cutting surface movable tadjacent to the open end of the hopper andsaid disintegrating member, means for moving said movable member, andmeans for heating said movable member.

9. A gum melting machine having a hopper for receiving the gum, amovable memher having a cutting surface extending across the openingthrough the hopper, means for moving said surface across said opening,means for heating said movable surface, and means having a cuttingsurface cooperating with the cutting surface of the movable member fordisintegrating the solid matter brought out with the molten gum.

10. A gum melting machine having a hopper for receiving the gum, amovable member having a cutting surface extending across the openingthrough the hopper,

means for moving said surface across said opening, means for heatingsaid movable surface, means having a cutting surface cooperating withthe cutting surface of the movable member for disintegrating the solidmatter brought out with the molten gum, and means for removing theviscous mass from the movable member.

11. The method of treating containing non-plastic particles, Whicconsistsin engaging the'gum with a hot moving cutting surface andsimultaneously melting the gum so as to release the non-plasticparticles and cutting the non-plastic particles contained in the meltedgum, by the action of the hot moving cutting surface.

KARL E. PEILER.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0.

